3:34pm EST - Happy Friday Rust! I don't know about you, but I’m ready for some weekend gaming (it just has a different feel from all that gaming during the week, you know?) And, I’m glad to report, after the update yesterday, Rust is in a great place. Normally in bug fix mode on Friday’s, the team has no fires to put out today and has moved on to more exciting things. As Garry mentioned in the devblog yesterday, he’s ready to implement some fun stuff next week, and I can’t wait! Before we get into it...

Thank you!

I launched our Patreon campaign yesterday to help cover costs and generate some revenue (also, get me a sorely needed haircut). I’m pleased to report that we have already met our first two goals: Our monthly operating costs are covered and I have an appointment for a haircut!

Thank you to everyone who pledged to be a patron of Rustafied and to those who sent in one time donations! Also, a big thank you to my administration team, crew and community leaders. Rustafied couldn’t operate without the time and effort you all put in everyday.

I’m moved, honored, and invigorated to keep growing and improving on what I’m doing.

Research table art

The research table was added yesterday, giving Newmans a new way to get blueprints.  Overall, the functionality of this first implementation seems pretty solid (more info here). The look, however, left something to be desired. Thankfully, Vince has implemented the actual model today, and it looks fucking awesome! Check it out:

Blueprint wipe poll results

Given the advent of this new research table, I put up a poll yesterday to gauge people's opinions on blueprint wipe frequency. With over 1500 votes cast, the results are in: “blueprint wipes only when forced” got the most votes, followed very closely by “blueprint wipes monthly.”

I would like to point out, although only when forced got the most votes (and only by a little), this poll shows the majority of people would like blueprint wipes more often than the game forces.

What does this mean for blueprints on the Rustafied.com servers? Nothing at the moment. I will not be wiping any blueprints today, however, I am considering it at some point in the future. I'm going to see how the research table impacts gameplay and take it from there.

Water tanks

Dan is doing a pass on the LOD's and gibs for the upcoming water tanks. Although not much is known about specifically how these will function in the game, they are basically going to gather and store water. Does this mean the Bota Bag might actually be put in too? I'm not sure, but will post more info on this as I have it next week.

Floor spikes

Another exciting addition which we're likely to see next week, the art implementation for floor spikes has been completed. Don't expect to be using them this weekend, however, the actual functionality still needs to be added. More on this next week as it goes live on the development branch.

Performance

A frequent pain point, performance after this update is actually better. Although there is always room for improvement, client and server FPS are higher than they were last week. A big source of improvement, lowered animal spawns, has made resources like cloth a bit harder to come by. Personally, that is a sacrifice I'm happy to make if it means smoother gameplay.

One of the other sources of improvement was tree spawns being halved. I don't know about you, but wood is still very easy to come by (unless you're in the desert). Seems to me we could lower this number even further if it would result in significant performance increases.

Wiping main today

Although performance has improved, I will still be wiping main today to ensure smoothest gameplay through the weekend. Research all the blueprints you can with the resources you have, this wipe will occur at 6pm EST.

Streamin’

As you may have gathered, I’m having a blast streaming. The fun continues tonight as me and some trusted companions try to survive the wild cluster-fuck that is our 200 slot main server. We’ll be going live around 9pm EST, follow the Rustafied twitch to know exactly when it kicks off.

Question? Comments? Join the conversation at Rustaforum.com